FYI

The Great Lakes Comic-Con will be 7-9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, March 1, at the south campus of the Macomb Community College Sports and Expo Center, E. 12 Mile Road in Warren. Ticket prices range from $10-$50. Children ages 10 and younger get in free both days, and parking is free. For more information, visit http://greatlakescomiccon.org/.

It was Ryan Stegman’s dream to draw the adventures of Spider-Man – Marvel Comics’ flagship character – for a living.

Stegman, 32, achieved that dream last year as artist of “Superior Spider-Man.” However, he gave up his dream job, trading Marvel’s most popular icon for another icon whose popularity arguably rivals Spider-Man’s: Wolverine.

Portrayed by Hugh Jackman in six movies, Wolverine is a foul-tempered anti-hero with unbreakable bones and razor-sharp claws.

“Wolverine was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. There are very few things I would have left Spider-Man to work on, and Wolverine just happened to be one of them,” Stegman said, a 1999 Troy Athens High School grad and Michigan State University alumnus who now lives in Grand Blanc.

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Stegman is one of the guests appearing at the 2014 Great Lakes Comic-Con Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-March 1, at Macomb Community College in Warren. Other guests include definitive “X-Men” writer/godfather Chris Claremont, Ferndale native and former “Thor” writer Bill Messner-Loebs, Detroit native and former “Fantastic Four” artist Keith Pollard and long-time Detroit radio personality Trudi Daniels, among others.

One of the con’s founders is Mike DeSantis, who was Stegman’s history teacher at Troy Athens.

“I had NO IDEA that he was a comic book fan,” Stegman said. “But I saw him at a con last summer and we talked and he was a huge Spider-Man fan. So that was neat. And ever since then, we’ve kept in touch. I’m just excited to see what the show is like.”

He’s also looking forward to meeting Claremont, who wrote “X-Men” from 1976-91 and many of its related titles, making it an award-winning, best-selling series. His work has been adapted for various “X-Men” cartoons and the six “X-Men” movies – including last year’s “The Wolverine,” and May’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”

In fact, Claremont was one of the key creators who turned Wolverine into a fan-favorite character. This is the same Wolverine Stegman is drawing in the character’s eponymous monthly series.

“Chris is an absolute legend and has done so many great things for comics. I’m just kind of stunned they are even letting me in the same building,” Stegman said.

So far, he’s having a blast drawing Wolverine.

“It’s great! The character is one that I’ve always enjoyed drawing, and I feel like I have a unique take on him. I generally like to draw characters that are a little less ‘handsome’ and he is just that,” Stegman said. “(Marvel) tapped me as a guy they thought would be good for Wolverine. Then my editor called and told me, so that’s how we got here.”

Originally, Stegman wanted to be a Disney animator.

“I always wanted to draw. I was always interested in art and illustration. I wanted to be an animator, then I saw a documentary on it, and discovered it was less individualized than I thought it would be. The documentary made it seem like a job, which I wasn’t interested in; I wanted to do something that was fun,” he said, laughing. “Later, when I picked up a ‘Spawn’ comic book, it hit me – ‘Oh, people do this for a living.’ I can do this. This is what I wanted to do. Then I told my parents, who thought I was crazy but they supported it.”

At MSU, he was interested in photojournalism, but switched his major to English.

“I thought I’d get my degree in (photojournalism). If the comic book thing didn’t work, I’d do that. Along the way, things happened where you get interested in other things… I also want to write and draw my own stuff. I thought it would be a good idea to learn how to write and my fallback job would be an editorial-type job. When I graduated with my degree, I found it was almost impossible to get a job with it,” he said, laughing.

At 24, he drew an independent comic called “Midnight Kiss,” which got him noticed. He adapted the fantasy novel “Magician’s Apprentice” for Dabel Brothers Productions, which entered into a partnership with Marvel in 2006.

“So all of the sudden, I was working for Marvel. I had Marvel editors,” recalled Stegman.

From there, he worked on various Marvel titles before landing “Amazing Spider-Man,” which became “Superior Spider-Man.” He got that assignment the day his son Oliver was born almost 3 years ago.

“That day, literally an hour after my son was born, I checked my email. I had an email that (Marvel) wanted me to do an issue of ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ and also ‘Hulk vs. Dracula,’” explained Stegman. “The big takeaway for me was, “Oh my god, I’m gonna be drawing Spider-Man.’ That was a life’s goal. Even just to have name on that book for one issue was just incredible. The editor, Steve Wacker, really liked what I did and asked me what my plans were for the future. I said, ‘To be honest I just want to draw Spider-Man.’ That’s all I ever wanted to do.”